Good Acting Instincts Make a Scene Rock

Today we had another rehearsal/read of King Lear, but this time, instead of being in my Rec Room, it was on an outdoor stage at the home of the director we hope to mount this when he gets theaters sorted out. The one he had when this project started with Don playing the title role got sold out from under him, but that is another story.

Aside from being out in the fresh air on a lovely sunny day, this had the added advantage of feeling like we really were acting out the play. But this post is about following instincts.

I'm still learning about being an actor. In a scene where Goneril has been trying to convince her father that his men are being disruptive in her castle and she wants him to dismiss half of his retinue, which King Lear doesn't want to hear, and where Lear's Fool is subtly berating him for giving his kingdom to his daughters, Lear has a line which made me instinctively feel that Goneril enters and comes over to her dad. Since it was pointed out that Goneril was already in the scene, even though she had been an inactive player for a while, I figured I just made an error of forgetfulness.

But Don thought it was a great idea and said come to me when he asked who I was. So I did and as I began my speech about what I wanted him to do and my reasons why it was necessary, he proceeded to ignore me, this time by keeping his back to me. Since I feel Goneril is a strong woman and very much her father's daughter in feeling that her position means she should have her way, I kept trying to get to his front to hammer my points in with eye contact. Since Lear doesn't want to do what I want, he kept denying me the face-to-face I wanted. I'd scoot around to his left and he'd turn to the right so his back would still be towards me. Then I'd scoot around to his right and he'd turn to the left. No matter how hard I tried to get around him while delivering the lines, he denied me. This cat and mouse game gave the scene so much life and felt so real that I think we were both right in our choices.

Finally I was getting so frustrated; I realized that Goneril wouldn't put up with this. I felt I knew here well enough, understood how strong she was, that I knew she would walk away and stop trying like she was begging. So I did and that felt so right, the scene was just so much fun.

Don has been very generous in teaching me the process of acting... helping me learn about making decisions about the character, finding my way into the character by using my own experiences and then just substituting Shakespeare's words, making the character real from the inside, and in following my instincts. As he keeps saying, you can't do better than learn from Shakespeare because it's all there in the words.

I also learned another valuable lesson from him -- that actors are only responsible for their own characters and they do not think about the motivations or character creations of other actors. That is not their place to do so. In a way, that is very freeing for me, because as someone new to this, there's a part of me that always worries whether the others are thinking I'm playing the character right or whether I should be making other choices. It was freeing to learn that they are not thinking anything along those lines, just going with the interpretation I create and reacting to it... not judging it.

He's making it so much fun and I'm learning so much about acting doing this. I'm so glad I said yes to doing this.